Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken

I bought a sack of limes at the market the other day.  After I brought them home, I realized that I now had an obligation.  I hate having a food commitment.  I'm more of a shop-as-you-go kind of person.  What was I thinking?  One cannot live on Margaritas and Mojitos alone, so I decided to grill up some Tequila Lime Chicken, the quick version.  I've made Ina Garten's version many times.  I've also modified it many times.  Ina uses a LOT of citrus in her marinade and she lets it sit in the marinade at least 8 hours.  I've had two major issues with this.  For one thing, all that lime juice reacts with the chicken and starts to "cook " the chicken.  Not cook, in the sense that you will be able to eat it, but the thinner parts of the chicken start to look opaque.   Sure a long marinating time helps to impart flavor into the chicken, but  I'm kind of turned off by that "white edged" chicken.  My other issue with the original recipe was the length of time it needed to marinate.  Long marinating times = planning.  Planning is not always practical, and hey, why shouldn't you enjoy a flavorful grilled chicken that you didn't have to think about the day before?   I figured out that if I give the chicken a little extra kick of spice,  I can marinate it for an hour and get a version of tequila lime chicken that I liked even better.

Meet the main players:

                                           

Cedar Planked Salmon with Dill Sauce, Heaven on a Plank

Have you ever tried cedar planked salmon?  For that matter, have you ever tried cedar planked anything?  Well if you haven't, it's time you did.  You can cook almost anything on a cedar plank, but my favorite is salmon.  The cedar imparts a wonderful flavor to the fish.  I have converted non-salmon loving people into salmon-eating monsters.  As salmon recipes go, I think this one is my favorite.


Until recent years, I didn't have a whole lot of experience with salmon.  Having grown up in New York,  salmon conjured up visions of lox served with cream cheese and bagels.....not the kind of salmon I'm talking about.  I'm talking about fresh wild caught salmon.  I remember when my mother returned from a trip to Ireland, how she raved about the wonderful poached salmon served with dill sauce that she had eaten several times on her journey.  She said the salmon and fresh dill were the perfect combination and worth a trip to Ireland just to experience it!

I've experimented preparing salmon with glazes and breadcrumbs and sauces and different cooking techniques over the years, and then last weekend I came to the realization,  this is the one!  I made this recipe for a small gathering last winter and everyone asked how the salmon stayed so moist.  Sure I could poach the salmon to keep it moist and juicy, but once again I have to remind you that I hate the smell of fish cooking in the house.  If a fish dish can be prepared outdoors, I'm a happy camper.  I think by basting and planking the salmon,  keeping the fish off of the direct flame, the salmon cooks up moist, flakey and delicious.   The dill sauce is the perfect accompaniment.  Serve it with a seasonal green vegetable and some garlic-dill roast potatoes.  Add a nice glass of Pinot Noir, and I am in heaven!

Grill Master Paul Does Ribs

Did that title get your attention?  He may be a self-proclaimed Grill Master, but nevertheless he is my Grill Master.  After all, I did buy him the grill for father's day three years ago.  I think he likes grilling because it gives him the opportunity to cook something without my interference.  Yes, he may ask me what the internal temperature of a pork tenderloin should be, but for the most part he is on his own.  There are four things I will never, ever, ever cook in the house...steak, hamburgers, fish (excluding shell fish) and ribs.  I dabble with the outdoor preparation of fish, but the meat is his domain.  He also makes an awesome beer can chicken.

Last summer, Paul, I mean the Grill Master, spent quite a bit of time perfecting his ribs.  He did a lot of experimenting with dry rubs which impart flavor throughout the meat.  As the ribs cook, they form a nice crust and seal in the juices.  He would cook the ribs long, low, and slow over indirect heat  to produce moist, succulent and tender ribs.  Since he cooks on a gas grill, he adds some wood chips to give it that smoked flavor.  At the very end, he brushes on just a bit of BBQ sauce which makes those ribs finger lickin' good.  I have to admit, dry rubbed ribs without any sauce taste mighty fine on their own.  I suggest you try some both ways.

These ribs take a bit of time to make, so you can't decide you want to make ribs an hour before you want to eat.   I think I will run through the actual process for you before I get to the recipe so you see what I mean.  First thing you will do is buy your ribs and trim them of excess fat and any silver skin.  Next you will massage the ribs with the dry rub (recipe to follow) and seal in a plastic bag for at least 8 hours.  Now go to the beach for a while or clean your house.  I chose the beach.  By the way, these are made on a gas grill, but you can certainly make them over charcoal using an indirect method of cooking. You're on your own as far as the timing goes if you use charcoal.

1/2 hour before you start grilling, soak your hickory chips in water.
Fill a can with water and cut up pieces of citrus - to be used for mopping and cooling (and adding some moisture to the environment)
3 hours before you want the ribs to be ready, get your grill warm and your wood chips smoking and get to grilling!

Remember, keep it low and slow....

Just a note about buying ribs:  Generally speaking, spare ribs are have more meat than baby back ribs.  Of course the amount of meat on a rack will vary.   A portion of baby backs is a half a slab.  A rack of meaty spareribs will feed 3 hungry people.  Multiply recipe to feed more...do as many as your grill can hold and feed a crowd.

Saucy BBQ Sauce

The July 4th is just a few days away.  In our house, the 4th of July usually means beach, BBQ and fireworks.  We head out to the beach early in the day.  I usually cut up some melon and berries for a fruit salad, throw some yogurt in the cooler, and pick up some bagels on the way down to the beach.  Long Island beaches get rather crowded on the Fourth, so when Paul finishes eating all the food, by the time the crowd gets thick, we head home.  Late in the afternoon,  Paul fires up the Weber and gets into serious BBQ mode.  If anyone is coming to watch the fireworks later that night, they have to arrive to our house by 5:00.   Our neighborhood gets blocked off by the Village to prepare for the invasion of the firework gawkers.  Sometimes dinner can be elaborate and sometimes dinner can be straightforward BBQ fare. Whichever it is, you can always count on something being slathered in a little BBQ sauce.  After dinner everyone grabs a beach chair and walks down the road to watch the fireworks with a cold drink in hand.   We come back to the house for dessert...and that pretty much sums up our Fourth.  Tradition...isn't that what holidays are about?

So if you are a true American, or if you are not an American but would like to prepare an American BBQ, you might consider making your own BBQ sauce this year.  Homemade BBQ sauce beats the heck out any bottled sauce I've ever tried.  I'm not just talking about taste, I'm talking about having control over the viscosity of the sauce (is it OK to use the word viscosity here isn't it?), its texture, sodium and my desire to have a BBQ sauce that does not contain high fructose corn syrup.   I'm sure you can get  a decent "gourmet" BBQ sauce, but why not make your own and control EVERYTHING?  I guess I am a bit of a control freak.  Hey, nobody's perfect.

Homemade BBQ Sauce (with a little heat)
Click for Printable Page

Makes 1 pint

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 1/4 cups ketchup -look for brands without high fructose corn syrup like Muir Glen or Whole Foods 365
• 1 tablespoon Srirachi chili sauce
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (you will add to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
• a pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan.  Add diced onion and cook over a medium heat until onion is nicely caramelized.
2. Add the ketchup, Srirachi, molasses, spices and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar to the pan containing the  cooked onion.  
3. Combine and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.  Stir sauce often.
4. After 20 minutes, taste and add the additional vinegar if needed.  (If you are using sauce for chicken or ribs I recommend using the additional vinegar)
5. Cook another 5-10 minutes.  Cook longer if you desire a thicker consistency.
6. Remove from heat and transfer sauce to a bowl or jar.  Allow to cool and refrigerate.  
7. Sauce keeps 2 weeks in the fridge.

Spicy Shrimp on the Barbie

Some inspiration is not born from a long story.  Some inspiration comes from a simple idea.  Paul wanted shrimp for Father's Day dinner.  We headed to the farmer's market.

Paul eyeing Casey's Catch at the farmer's market

I was content to make the usual scampi.  Matt called his dad for Father's Day and said, "why don't you make them on the BBQ?"  (We gave Matt a grill for his birthday and he's been in BBQ mode)  Why not indeed?  I could do that.  Such an easy clean-up, and since the big guy wouldn't be doing the clean-up (it was Father's Day after all) I liked the idea.  I'm flexible.  I started scouring the pantry and fridge, then headed out to the garden in search of marinade fixins.  I didn't want boring shrimp; I wanted spice. Some Asian ingredients called to me and some fresh herbs screamed to be picked.

Maybe it was the gnomes screaming!

I started mixing and tasting, and before I knew it I had a Thai-ish tasting marinade ready to bathe some shrimp.

It was sort of evil looking

I marinated the shrimp for a little more than an hour and made a HUGE salad.  Thank you garden.  We picked up a heavenly loaf of bread at the farmer's market from Orwasher's .

Only 9:00AM and almost sold out

It was a light dinner followed by a hearty dessert.   Oh, and maybe just a little of this....

Grilled Spicy Shrimp

Click for Printable Page

Serves 2-3

• 1 pound of jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

Marinade:

• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons Thai red curry sauce (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Whisk all marinade ingredients in a small bowl.  
2. Place cleaned shrimp in a zip lock bag.  Pour marinade over shrimp.  Seal bag. Refrigerate for an hour.
3. Heat gas grill to medium high heat.
4. Be sure to oil the cooking surface of grill (olive oil)
5. Thread shrimp onto skewers.
6. Grill shrimp for 3 minutes over medium high flame.  Brush with marinade, flip, and grill another 3 minutes.
7. Serve immediately.

It's that simple.

Just an afterthought....these shrimp would be outstanding with coconut rice and stir fried vegetables.
Oh I feel I must confess, the big guy did the dishes anyway!